Underplayed Gems

The Chicago Maternity Center Story (1976)

The Chicago Maternity Center Story poster
Directed by
Gordon Quinn
Genre
documentary
Country
United States
Runtime
58 min
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This documentary follows the final days of a Chicago home birth center that served poor families for 75 years. It shows a mother using the center's services and the staff fighting to keep it open as funding disappears.

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What happens

The Chicago Maternity Center Story is a 1976 feature-length documentary film produced by Kartemquin Films. It tells the story of The Chicago Maternity Center as it fights to stay open despite declining funding. The center had been open for 75 years, but was forced to close in light of modern medicine's changing attitude toward home birth and subsequent lack of resources. The film is structured in two parts. It first follows the story of Scharene Miller, who was one of the last mothers to use the Maternity Center's home birthing services. The backdrop to this personal story is provided in the broader context of the rise of corporate medicine and the current barriers for the poor in accessing quality medical care. The work of the Center's director, Beatrice Tucker, and other staff are highlighted throughout, as are the demonstrations that attempted to keep the work going. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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